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2012 Prayer

"My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make ever effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus." Philippians 3: 10-12

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Government--God's Servant

My heart is heavy this week regarding the future of our
country.I am not one of those people
who knows everything about everything regarding our government.However, I do try to keep up-to-date with
some of the hot topics.E-mail notices
from sources like Citizen Link, OneNewsNow, Vision to America, and several
others come to my inbox on a regular basis.Do I read them all?No, but I do
try to glance or at least give a cursory read to the highlights so that I can
pretend to be intelligible when speaking to others about the state of our
nation.

All that said, having begun this past Monday and finishing
up today, the Supreme Court of the United States is holding hearings regarding
one of the most important decisions that will affect every American.As already noted, I do not claim to know even
a fraction of the whole issue, but what I do know is that the decision the Supreme
Court produces will be one that will either favor what our founding fathers
meant when they wrote the constitution or it will go against their intent and
lead this nation in the total opposite direction. Despite my naivety, I have felt a huge burden
on my heart the last two days and today to bend my knee and pray specifically
for the justices as they hear the case brought before them.Even this morning the Lord led me to Romans
13:1 as I was praying for my children to respect those in authority.The Holy Spirit guided me to read the passage
as He reminded me of my need and responsibility to respect those in
authority.Not only that, but my eyes
were opened to the fact that the government, OUR GOVERNMENT is God’s
servant!!!Romans 13:1-7 states:

“EVERYONE must submit to the governing authorities, for there
is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by
God.So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and
those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.For rulers are not a terror to good conduct,
but to bad.Do you want to be unafraid
of the authority?Do what is good, and
you will have its approval. For government is God’s servant for your good.But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it
does not carry the sword for no reason.For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one
who does wrong.Therefore, you must
submit, a not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.And for this reason you pay taxes, since the
authorities are god’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks.Pay our obligations to everyone: taxes to
those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe
respect, and honor to those you owe honor.”

Wow!What a reminder.First, everyone must submit to all governing
authorities.That means EVERYONE and it
means ALL AUTHORITIES.It doesn’t mean I
can ignore those in authority who I disagree with.It does not mean I can bash my authorities behind
their backs.In fact, God tells us that
if we resist those HE has placed in authority, then we are opposing God’s
command.To submit to those in authority
is to acknowledge the power and control God has over the leaders in those
positions.By placing ourselves under
the control of God, we are free to rest in God’s sovereignty and pray for those
who are in authority.1 Timothy 2:1-4
reads:

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in
authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,
who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Do you hear that?Praying
for our leaders leads to a tranquil and quiet life and pleases God.Second, God gave us the government for our good.What?!?Yes.In God’s infinite wisdom He
designed a way for Him to grab the attention of His people when they are doing
good and when they are doing bad.I
believe God allows times of refreshing for His people when they humble
themselves before Him and seek Him and He allows His wrath to pour out when
they do wrong.One way He does this is
through the people He permits to be in office.

Lastly, we must submit.Not only to avoid wrath, but because of our consciences (Romans
13:5).Out of respect for those God
places in authority we must pay our taxes, tolls, respect, and honor to God’s
public servants.It will be through this
manner the gospel can be preached through our nation and the knowledge of the
truth can be revealed (1 Timothy 2:4).

Please join me today as we lift up our Supreme Court
Justices, our national as well as state and city leaders.May we not be found sleeping while our fate
is determined by those God has placed in authority.

My Heart’s Prayer:Gracious
Sovereign Lord.There is no power given
on this earth that does not come from you.I acknowledge the servants you have placed in position of authority in
our nation today.Whether to judge our
nation for turning our backs on your holiness or to reveal the greater plan you
have for this nation I particularly lift up this to you this morning.I pray for Sonia
Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A.
Alito, Elena Kagan,
Clarence
Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief JusticeJohn G.
Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.I ask that you open their ears and hearts
today as they listen to the case.I ask
for wisdom and discernment as they evaluate the constitution and how it affects
this nation.I pray wise decisions would
be made over the next couple of months.I ask that you would help me to pray for them continually as you move in
their lives.May you receive the glory
and honor due your name as you move among your people.In Jesus Name, Amen.

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About Me

Temple Dwellers Ministry's focus is to encourage others to become temple dwellers by experiencing life in the presence of God through worshiping Him and Him only and sharing that knowledge with those around them.